This came out in 2004 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
Reunion albums don’t come much better than this.
For their first new studio disc in 15 years, singer-guitarist David Lowery and Camper Van Beethoven return at full strength with a fiery political concept piece about a Texan who joins the military after a “catastrophic attack,” only to grow disillusioned and end up a suicide bomber for an underground militia. The intensity and complexity of the narrative are handily matched by the music, which seamlessly interweaves the eclectic outfit’s trademark ethno excursions with passages of tighter, harder-hitting fare than you might expect from greying college rockers. Here’s hoping we don’t have to wait 15 years for the followup.
